“They were.”
“You saw Clay with his arms around Veronica?”
She opened her mouth to say yes, but paused before speaking. Had he been hugging her? Veronica’s arms had been around his neck, but she couldn’t say for a fact that Clay was hugging the girl back. “I don’t know what I saw anymore.”
Violet leaned against the wall beside the window and peeked out the curtain before dropping it and turning back to look at her. “You know, ever since that girl got to town, she’s been chasing after Clay, and in all that time, I’ve never seen him be anything but polite to her.”
She squinted, trying to figure out everything she said. Violet repeated it slower this time, and Daisy shook her head. “I saw them kissing.”
Violet’s eyes widened. “Last night?”
She shook her head again. “No. It was the day we left for Butte. I saw them beside the dress shop.”
Violet’s mouth opened and shut a few times before snapping closed. “Are you sure?”
“I know what it looks like when people kiss, Violet. Of course I’m sure.”
“Did you ask him about it?”
“No. Why would I? I barely knew him then.”
She glanced out the window and gasped when she saw Clay. He was headed to her house.
Violet turned to see what she was looking at. She tapped her on the arm to get her attention and said, “You can’t avoid him, Daisy.”
“I know.”
“He was here earlier, and the ring he showed us told me he’d come home for one thing. He came to marry you.”
“And move me back to Butte.”
Violet tilted her head a fraction. “Would that be so terrible?”
“Yes,” she answered with no hesitation. She’d missed her family in the few short weeks they’d been in Butte. She couldn’t imagine going back and never seeing them again.
Violet gave her a sad smile before glancing across the room. When she looked back, she said, “I can hear him knocking on the door downstairs. I need to go let him in.”
Her eyes stung with tears as Violet turned on her heel and left the room. Daisy took a few steps, then stopped. She was so torn about what to do. A small part of her wanted to confront him and ask what was going on between him and Veronica. The other wanted to throw all her belongings into her hope chest and tell him she’d love nothing more than to be his wife. She missed him. Missed his kisses and the smiles he gave her and the feel of his hands on her skin. Missed their conversations and the laughter he always pulled from her. She missed him more than she ever thought she would, and being away from him felt like a small death.
Glancing at her bedroom door, she knew it was only a matter of time before Violet dragged him up the stairs to her room or made her go downstairs to him, so she hurried to her mirror and looked at her reflection. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. Anyone looking at her would know she’d been crying.
She dipped her washcloth into the water again and held it over her face a few moments before slapping some color into her cheeks. She didn’t look much better when she glanced into the mirror, but there was little she could do about it.
Like it or not, she had to talk to Clay and make a decision that would impact her entire future.
Chapter 15
The look on Violet’s face when she opened the door told Clay something was definitely wrong. She stepped aside and motioned for him to enter the house, and the shock he’d felt when Daisy ran out of the mercantile turned to dread.
He’d imagined asking Daisy to marry him so often it felt as if he’d done it dozens of times now, but not once in all those daydreams had she run from him. She’d always smiled and screamed yes and thrown her arms around his neck, happy and demanding they not waste a single moment before running off to find a preacher. Instead of the bliss those daydreams always produced, he’d had to look at the faces of everyone in the mercantile staring at him, still down on one knee, as the girl of his dreams ran out of the store without answering him. Embarrassment had heated his body. Not only had she not immediately said yes to his proposal and fallen into his arms as he’d imagined she would, but she’d run, and the entire town had seen it.
“Is she here?” He asked, the ring box still clutched in his hand.
Violet nodded and said, “She’s up in her room. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
“Explaining?” His brow scrunched in confusion.
“She saw you and Veronica in the livery stable last night. She ran out there to greet you and found you in that girl's arms.”
